In order to describe the basic premises of cognitive development theory lets break it down and

define what it is we are talking about. At Dictionary.com they give us the following definitions for

cognitive;

1. Of or pertaining to cognition. 2. Of or pertaining to the mental processes of perception,

memory, judgment, and reasoning, as contrasted with emotional and volitional processes.

So if I look up cognition at Dictionary.com here is the definitions to cognition;

1. The act or process of knowing; perception. 2. The product of such a process; something

thus known, perceived, etc. 3. Knowledge.

I would say that it’s safe to say, cognition would be the mental process of how and what we learn

and know. But I do think that our cognition has a lot to do with our emotional state of mind as we are

growing through the different mental states. I believe that it’s because of that factor that one of the main

theories where there is much debate, nature vs. nurture. We will discuss this further in detail in a

moment. Back to definitions, our Educational Psychology Book (Slavin, pg 30) defines development as;

Orderly and Lasting growth, adaptation, and change over the course of a lifetime.

and then put cognitive development (Slavin, pg.31) together with this meaning;

Gradual, orderly changes by which mental processes become more complex and

sophisticated.

However, Dictionary.com gave two definitions for cognitive development;

1. The process of acquiring intelligence and increasingly advanced thought and problem

solving ability from infancy to adulthood. 2. The growth of a person's ability to learn.

So if cognitive is the mental process of how and what we know and learn then cognitive

development to me would be how we develop those mental process and how they grow throughout our

lifetime. Since we are always in one developmental stage or another, our cognitive development must be

the same, Right?

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development proposes that a child’s intellect, or cognitive abilities,
 progresses through four distinct stages. Each stage is characterized by the emergence of new

abilities and ways of processing information. (Slavin, pg. 31)

Piaget thought so; he believed that there were four stages of cognitive development that went

from birth into our adulthood. The biggest issues I immediately notice with those four stages is the fact

that in our adulthood at some point we all tend to go backwards when it comes to cognitive development.

As we age we can become slower, less cognitive. Now that’s not to say that every one is the same either.

The Neo-Piagetian theory’s basically saying that. The stages should not be so explicit to set ages but

rather by developing the intelligence that is developing. For instance you can have two kids that look

alike, and to some extent act alike but when it comes down to their lives they have had two very different

walks of life. One may have had straight A’s all through school, with private tutors and for the most part

a cushy life. The other boy has not been so lucky, grew up in foster care and doesn’t much care about

school. But the second boy has many street smarts as opposed to the first boy that has many book smarts.

Right there is a prime example of nature vs. nurture. The first boy given nurture and the second was

given nature, or rather lack of. But either way they too had cognitive developmental stages occurring just

not in the same way or at the same times in life.

“Vygotsky’s work is based on two key ideas. First, he proposed that intellectual development can

be understood only in terms of the historical and cultural context children experience. Second, he

believed that development depends on the sign system that individuals grow up with” (Slavin, pg.42). I

think that every child can probably process the same information; you just may have to find different

words or such that each child can associate with to understand. As far as the sign system, all that is is the

language or counting and writing system that each child grows up learning. You wouldn’t talk in

Spanish, French or German to a child that only spoke English and truly expect them to understand you,

would you? No. So what children experience in terms of their own historical and cultural context makes

a huge difference, or at least that’s my belief on it.

Piaget’s thought that interaction with peers was the biggest factor in a child’s cognitive

development. Whereas Vygotsky believed it had to do with having collaborations with higher skilled
partners to help your cognitive development grow. There was also Bruner, who basically said yes

children learn how to interact with people and from that there cognitive development grows by

interpreting various social experiences. But there is one factor that rings true that Bruner said, "There is

no unique sequence for all learners, and the optimum in any particular case will depend upon a variety of

factors, including past learning, stage of development, nature of the material, and individual differences"

(Pathways Home, 2010). With many of the cognitive development theories there is some kind of pre-set

or pre-determined stages. Piaget had four stages of cognitive development that went from birth to

adolescent in three stages. Vygotsky had eight stages where the first five stages went from birth to

adolescent. But not Bruner, I think he was right on when he said there was no unique sequence for all

learners, cause no teacher or person for that matter will ever find two kids that learn at the exact same

time or with the exact same tools, etc. That is one of the qualities that we humans have come to enjoy

and love about one another, is that we are all different. Therefore how can our cognitive development be

all set on this same learning set to go at all the same speeds given our different cultural and social

backgrounds.

Really all three of these theorists consider teaching in a multiage classroom where children can

lean the most from. Take with them different experiences with varied outcomes and learn to construct

different knowledge in their own ways.

Reference List:

cognition. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved October 11, 2010, from Dictionary.com website:
 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cognition

cognitive. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved October 11, 2010, from Dictionary.com website:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cognitive

cognitive development. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved October 11, 2010, from

Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cognitivedevelopment

Pathways Home. Vygotsky, Piaget, and Bruner. Retrieved October 11, 2010, from North Central

Regional Educational Laboratory website:

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/instrctn/in5lk2-4.htm

Slavin, R. (2009). Educational Psychology Theory and Practice (Ninth Edition). Upper Saddle River,

New Jersey. Pearson Education, Inc.